Talks between defenseman Justin Schultz, his agent and the Penguins about a long-term contract extension have commenced, but agent Wade Arnott, who represents Schultz, cautioned that they’re still in their embryonic stages.
“It’s early,” Arnott told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “But we’ve had some good, positive discussions.”
The latest of those talks occurred at the NHL draft over the weekend, in Chicago, and Arnott anticipates chatting with Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford and his staff more this week.
The date both sides are likely shooting for is July 5, when, at 5 p.m., any notification of player-elected salary arbitration must be given.
As a restricted free agent, Schultz doesn’t have total control, but he did produce some monster numbers: 12 goals, 51 points and a plus-27 rating in 78 games played during the regular season. In 21 more postseason contests, Schultz recorded four goals and 13 points. Schultz quarterbacked the Penguins’ No. 1 power play and ranked among the league leaders among defensemen in pretty much every significant category.
Those numbers would give Schultz a raise in arbitration, but going to arbitration would likely be an outcome suitable for neither side; a more peaceful and logical resolution would be figuring out some middle ground.
“There’s no hidden fact he’d like to be in Pittsburgh,” Arnott said. “He’s a restricted free agent, so it’s not like he has a choice. Come July 1, all unsigned players are free to listen to other teams, too.”
As a restricted free agent, the qualifying offer Schultz received was for $1.4 million, the same as his salary cap hit in 2016-17. Arnott described the possibility of Schultz signing it a “non-issue.”
“We will not be signing the qualifying offer,” Arnott said. “You saw what he did this year. The practical answer is it’s a non-issue.”
So that means Arnott and the Penguins will talk about dollars and term, although Arnott declined to get into specifics on what Schultz is looking for.
But after taking a $2.5 million pay cut from 2015-16 and 2016-17 and essentially betting on himself, it’s fairly easy to see that Schultz has won.
The only thing left is to figure out by how much.
“We took a one-year, discounted deal to come back from last year and build upon what he did,” Arnott said. “The player took a lot of the risk. The player performed. Now the player should be rewarded.”
Rutherford should have no problem rewarding Schultz. He’s admitted on several occasions that the Penguins would like retain Schultz and that they’re well aware he’s going to command more than $1.4 million or even likely north of $3.9 million, his old cap number.
Reality and comparable contracts put a possible Schultz deal in the $4 million-$5 million range.
Figure, Seth Jones signed for six years and $32.4 million with Columbus last year for a cap hit of $5.4 million, but Jones is also a 21-year-old, top-pairing defenseman. Schultz will turn 27 on July 6 and spent the majority of his minutes on the second or third pairing.
Anaheim’s Hampus Lindholm got six years and $31.5 million ($5.25 million AAV) coming off a 10-goal, 28-point season, although he, too, is probably a tick above Schultz’s profile.
Getting beyond $5 million per season would be tough in Pittsburgh, but there’s a good chance both sides can get close enough to make it work.
Schultz loves it here for a multitude of reasons, which Arnott outlined.
“It starts with winning,” Arnott said. “Any player wired the right way should be about winning at that level. I think he really enjoys the players, the corps group on the team, and he really enjoys the coaching staff and the development model.”
Signing Schultz would protect the Penguins should anything happen with Kris Letang.
It would also reward a player who, after arriving in tatters from Edmonton, was able to resurrect his game and develop enough defensively that he had a career year, one on par with the best at his position.
“We’ll probably have some more direction here this week with where we’re going with [a possible extension],” Arnott said. “But we’ve had some good discussions.”
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: June 26, 2017, 6:32 p.m.